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CELEBRITY SPFL fan Isiah Whitlock Junior has lent his support to Dunipace FC after their weekend pitch fire.
Damage in excess of £300,000 has rendered their Westfield Park unplayable after yobs started a blaze on the synthetic surface, in Denny, near Falkirk.
It forced a hasty re-scheduling of matches planned for the weekend with both neighbours Stenhousemuir and Falkirk offering their facilities to the heartbroken club.
They switched their clash with Preston Athletic to Stenny’s Ochilview home and will play another game tomorrow night in Linlithgow.
Many other clubs and community groups were also displaced because of the vandalism.
And fundraisers are now attempting to source cash to relay the ground – and they’ve had superstar backing.
Star of HBO‘s The Wire and Disney‘s Cars 2 Whitlock is a long-distance Stenhousemuir supporter.
And he backed the bid to crowd-fund the new pitch at Dunipace as he caught up on his latest SPFL news from across the pond.
Reprising his famous catchphrase from his stint as Senator Clay Davis, he tweeted: “Sheeeeeeeeeeeee-it! Catching up on my @StenhousemuirFC news and I heard about this.
“Help Dunipace after a deliberate fire at Westfield.”
He also linked to the gofund me page which has already surpassed the £10,000 target.
More than £14,000 had been raised from local people, businesses and anonymous donors in the online collection.
We told how the club discovered the fire on Saturday morning and believed the damage was in six-figures.
But the estimate trebled to £300,000 on the day ‘Pace officials branded ‘one of the toughest days we’ve faced as a club’.
They added: “While we know there’s a long road ahead before we get things back to the way they were, the support we’ve received from the local community, Scottish football, and the wider football family has been nothing short of overwhelming.
“The club has received messages from around the world and it has been difficult to comprehend just how far-reaching this has become; while the people of Denny and Dunipace have rallied around the club in a way that makes you proud to be from the town.”
Police Scotland are treating the fire as wilful and said £300,000 of damage was caused.
A spokeswoman said: “This fire caused a significant amount of damage and will have a substantial impact on the club and surrounding community.
“We are appealing for anyone who witnessed the fire, or anyone who may have seen anyone acting suspiciously to get in touch.”
The pitch opened in 2018 as the club dropped their Juniors tag and set into the senior ranks of the East of Scotland league.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
Whitlock’s love affair with Stenhousemuir is one of the more unusual celebrity supporting stories.
The Wire star regularly comments on the club on social media and even called out Chris Sutton over a disparaging comment about the Warriors.
Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
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